Tokyo stocks opened lower Tuesday as Wall Street's decline overnight set a negative tone here with some international investors switching out of riskier assets like stocks and into safe havens as tensions on the Korean Peninsular escalated.

As of 9:15 a.m. local time, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 46.17 points, or 0.23 percent, from Monday to 20,351.41.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, fell 0.60 points, or 0.04 percent, to 1,672.22.

Real estate, electric appliance and machinery-linked issues comprised those that declined the most in early trade.